Many doubted Byron Kelleher's signing for Toulouse after the 2007 World Cup, but the former All Black scrum-half has endeared himself to one of the most demanding rugby audiences.
At 34 years old, he seems to have lost little of his sniping and, what must be for opposition teams, annoying style of harrying style of play.
Kelleher played the full match as Toulouse won an unprecedented fourth European Cup with a 21-19 win over French Top 14 rivals Biarritz at the Stade de France on Saturday.
But the Kiwi did not hog the spotlight in a battle of wits up front, the nous of an in-form Toulouse pack out-trumping a leaden-footed Basque team.
All the same, the ex-Highlanders and Chiefs star was a happy man, especially as he rated European rugby's showpiece tournament as having got tougher since his arrival in southwestern France.
"Year after year, this competition gets tougher," said Kelleher.
"We're just ecstatic to come out as European champions because it really is a challenge. It's been a long, old season but a satisfactory one today."
Toulouse had the boots of David Skrela and Florian Fritz to thank for all their points, including three drop-goals. Dimitri Yachvili was in equally fine form for Biarritz, kicking four penalties.
But Toulouse were given a shock when Biarritz's Australian rugby league convert Karmichael Hunt crossed for a converted try with just seven minutes of the tense game remaining.
"Biarritz played with desperation at the end. Both teams were fatigued; they played with desperation and that's finals football. It just goes to show that you've got to be switched on for 80 minutes," said Kelleher.
"But we came through in the end; we took our opportunities and it paid off."
Kelleher, who became just the ninth New Zealander to win European Cup honours, added: "We've got an awesome pack and it's great to play behind them.
"(Forwards coach) Yannick Bru looked at their scrum and we thought we could get on top of them in that area. We used our scrum as a real weapon. We put them in their half and played some sensible rugby and got penalties from those efforts.
"We had confidence because we played with the ball a lot. We knew that, when we played with the ball and played Toulouse-style rugby, we'd keep putting the pressure on them and fatigue them.
"It is just fantastic to win the European Cup - it was one of the goals I set myself when I left New Zealand and now I've done it.
"It's great for the province, it's great for French rugby and I'm proud to be a New Zealander representing New Zealand in France."
Copyright 2010 AFP Global Edition
